It’s Time for the House to Pick Up the Pieces in Florida’s 13th District

• By Richard L. Hasen
• Special to Roll Call
• Dec. 6, 2006, Midnight

Remember the infamous “butterfly ballot” of Palm Beach County, Fla., in the 2000 presidential election? Back then, poor ballot design appeared to have caused many supporters of Democrat Al Gore to vote for conservative third-party candidate Pat Buchanan for president, effectively allowing George Bush to win Florida’s electoral votes and the presidency. The courts said there was nothing that could have been done about the problems with the ballot even though there was strong evidence that more Florida voters came to their polling places intending to vote for Gore than for Bush.